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“Be yourself, because the people who mind don’t matter. And the people that matter, don’t mind…” – Dr. Seuss

Day 238

Summertime in Denver, CO is much like summer in other cities around the world. Each weekend brings with it another festival, celebration or fair. In years past, I’ve skipped many of the festivals because I didn’t want to deal with the parking, the traffic, I didn’t want to weave in and out of the crowds, etc. This year I’m making an effort to get out and about my town, to enjoy my city, to engage with the crowd and embrace my city’s diversity.

Lucky for me, this weekend brought with it Denver’s PrideFest 2016. If you’re not familiar with Denver PrideFest, it’s a colorful, vibrant celebration of the rich history of Colorado’s LGBT community. It’s an annual event offering live entertainment, vendor booths, arts & crafts, and lots of local food fare. There’s a family resource area, youth alley, transgender resource area; the mission of the festival is to create a fun, safe and empowering space to celebrate and promote the heritage and culture of the LGBT and allied community in Colorado. Organizers were expecting 375,000 people, making it the third largest PrideFest in the US.

If you live in the states you’re most likely aware of last week’s tragedy in Orlando, FL. So many lives taken, so many injured, hurting, grieving, so much hate towards others. I can’t understand it, I can’t even begin to get my head around feeling that much intolerance, hatred and apathy towards anyone, ever. I wanted to go today to show my support for the right and freedom to love whomever you choose to love, to enjoy the parade, the day, the joy, the celebration. I have to tell you that I felt sincerely welcomed, appreciated, and frankly I can’t remember any other parade that made me feel so good and so happy…

“I think the best day will be when we no longer talk about being gay or straight…It’s not a gay wedding, it’s just a wedding…It’s not a gay marriage, it’s just a marriage…” Pink